Brisket, brick roast and minute steak recipes are staples for our Jewish holiday meals. I buy organic brick roast at the Kosher butcher. Hopefully there are less unwanted chemicals and hormones in the beef! This is a quick and easy recipe for Passover.

Combine shallots, garlic, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon, oregano and salt in a small bowl. Rub into both sides of meat. Set the meat in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Pour wine and stock over the meat. Cover the pan with foil and set aside at room temperature while the oven heats to 350°F.

Bake the brisket, covered, for 2 hours. Meanwhile, blend tomatoes, brown sugar and vinegar in a large blender or food processor until smooth.

After 2 hours, pour the tomato mixture over the meat; continue baking, covered, until fork-tender, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes, for about 1 1/2 hours more.

Remove the meat from the sauce. Let rest for 10 minutes; then slice against the grain. Skim the fat from the sauce in the pan; pour the sauce over the meat and serve.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place the quinoa into a small saucepan and add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, covered, or until the water is evaporated. Turn off the heat and let quinoa sit covered for at least one hour, up to 8 hours. While the quinoa is sitting, place the sweet potato cubes into a roasting pan and toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until you can just pierce the cubes with a fork. Set aside.

Place the pine nuts into a small pan over medium heat and cook until lightly toasted, stirring often. Watch carefully so they do not burn. Set aside. In a small bowl, place the remaining two tablespoons olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, cumin and cinnamon. Whisk well.

When the quinoa is dry, use a whisk to break apart the grains. Add the vinaigrette and mix with the whisk. Add the sweet potatoes, pine nuts, cranberries and scallions and mix gently. Serve at room temperature.

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“Who knew kibbeh could be grilled? This Turkish recipe is a healthy alternative to fried kibbeh torpedoes and is really delicious. These are easy to make – all of the ingredients are mixed together and formed into a torpedo shape. I like using a medium or coarse grain bulgur for a crunchy exterior. These are also excellent made with ground beef or lamb. Serve with pita bread, Israeli salad or fatoush, and lemon wedges. I love this as an appetizer for a holiday lunch! Perfect for your Thanksgiving menu! Lisa Ades”

Last week I attended a cooking class at the Sephardic Community Center with Peter Berley, former executive chef of Angelica Kitchen in NYC. His cooking style is based upon the macrobiotic way of eating that was SO popular in the 80’s and 90’s. He now still uses his skills to whip up quick and simple vegetarian meals, and we were so lucky to share some of his recipes and easy healthy tips in the kitchen.

I especially loved his Sweet Potato Soup, so right after the class, I ran to buy some collard greens (which is supposed to be healthier for your digestive tract than steamed kale, mustard greens, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage- read more about collard greens HERE) and a jalapeño pepper. I already had a some coconut milk sitting in my pantry just begging to meet that can opener. The ginger, sweet potato and spices are regulars in my fridge. Within 20 minutes I had everything chopped and in the soup pot.

I also have a bag of Jasmine Rice has also been sitting on my kitchen shelf, and after hearing that rice may have arsenic leached within, I’ve been staring at it longingly waiting to hear any good news about poison in rice on CNN. Here’s another report link by ABC NEWS, (also please be educated and informed about possibly avoiding rice cereals for infants). I decided to skip the Jasmine rice addition until the rice companies decide to literally clean up their act.

Anyways, the soup was piping hot within the hour, and it was just in time to be served with my Grilled Miso Salmon.

I hope that you get to try this recipe. It was SO delicious! I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of Peter Berley’s cookbook but you can get it on Amazon just in time for the holidays!

1) In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine the rice, butter, and salt with 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Stir the rice once, reduce the heat, and cover the pan. Cook until the water is absorbed and the rice begins to stick on the bottom, about 18 to 20 minutes. Let sit covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork when ready to serve.
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2) In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, and sauté until softened, for 3 to 4 minutes.
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3) Add the sweet potato, garlic, jalapeño, ginger, coriander, and turmeric, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of water, the coconut milk, and 2 teaspoons of salt, raise the heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
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4) Add the collard greens to the soup and simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add a bit of water if the soup is too thick.
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5) Ladle the soup into 3 or 4 wide soup plates, and top with a spoonful of jasmine rice. Squeeze lime over all and sprinkle with cilantro.

This past weekend, my kids decided to whip up their own Sunday afternoon snack via Google, and after some clicking away they found this cinnamon almond edible delight from Allrecipes.com. This concoction fit the bill because luckily we happened to have all of the ingredients stocked in the house. It gave me such pleasure to see them running around and grabbing ingredients, because even though the kitchen was stating to look like hurricane Sandy hit, at least the TV was not the focus of the morning.

We edited the recipe a drop and it was gobbled up!

Add this home made treat to your Hanukka gift giving list! Just wrap it up and add a Hanukkah gift tag!

Sweet and Crunchy Cinnamon Candied Almond Treats

1 egg white

1 teaspoon cold water

3 cups whole almonds

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Beat the egg white, make sure its beaten totally. I used an immersion blender in a small cup to make sure it was beaten well. Add water, and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the nuts. Toss to coat, and spread evenly on the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until golden. Allow to cool, then store nuts in airtight containers.

I made this hearty salad last week as a side dish for a fish dinner, and it was delicious as well as very gourmet! I’m not sure where I bought Salad for Dinner
but the fresh combinations for these terrific salads really inspired me to make this dish. I highly recommend this cookbook!

I would make this salad again for a Rosh Hashanah or Sukkot lunch. Let me know how you like it! Marlene

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Peel and cut the sweet potatoes in wedges. Roast them with fresh chopped garlic, salt pepper and olive oil till tender. Or- you can grill them on a grill pan.

Bring the rice, 3 cups water, and salt to boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 50 minutes. Transfer the rice to a medium bowl and let cool completely.

Add the celery, green onions, 1/4 cup parsley and 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette to the wild rice while hot and stir well.

In a large bowl, toss the greens with 3 tablespoons of Lime-Ancho Vinaigrette. Divide the greens evenly among four plates. Spoon the wilde rice salad onto the center of each pile of greens, dividing evenly. Arrange the yams over the rice, dividing evenly. Spoon the remaining dressing over the yams. Sprinkle the salds with the remaining parsley and serve.

Pat fish dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sear fillets, skinned sides down, until browned well, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer, seared sides up, to baking dish (reserve skillet), then top each fillet with a slice of lemon.

Add wine to skillet and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits. Boil 30 seconds, then pour around fish. Scatter olives around fish and bake, uncovered, until fish is just cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes.

Transfer fish to a platter, then whisk lemon juice, oregano, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil into cooking liquid in baking dish. Season sauce with salt and pepper and spoon over fish.

Thank you Esther Chrem of “Cupcake Wars” for sharing your Hanukah recipe for jelly filled cupcakes! Being a judge at cupcake wars I was gained about 10 pounds tasting all the cupcakes, and I kid you not! These Hanukka cupcake were delicious!!!! A secret Hanukkah tip from Esther- lightly fry each donut in a pan before serving!!!

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) and line a cupcake tin with paper liners. In a mixing cup, combine the soymilk, vinegar, and cornstarch and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Create a well in the center of the flour for the wet ingredients and mix gently.
Fill the liners 3/4 full with batter. Place a heaping spoonful of jam into the center of each cupcake, being careful not to overfill. The jam will sink into the bottom of the cupcake during baking.
Bake cupcakes for 21 to 23 minutes. Cool them completely on a wire rack, and then set uncovered overnight in a cool, dry place. This will make the tops slightly crispy, like a donut crust. Using a sifter, sprinkle the donuts with powdered sugar and serve with coffee.
Recipe courtesy of http://www.vegnews.com/

TO SERVE

Directions

1. Prepare the meatballs. Combine all the meatball ingredients, except the ice water, in a medium-size bowl and squeeze together with your hands until well blended and the meat is very soft. Shape into individual meatballs by rolling them between the palms of your hands, 1 tablespoon at a time. (Dip your fingers in the dish of ice water and keep your palms wet to keep the meat from sticking. If it does stick, scrape it off with a blunt knife and return it to the bowl.) Place the meatballs on a plate and set aside.

2. Prepare the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onions, stirring, until golden and soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until golden, another 1 minute, stirring constantly so the garlic does not burn. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Gently drop the meatballs into the sauce. Stir gently to coat the meatballs with sauce, being careful not to break them, and cook over low heat, covered, until the meatballs are fully cooked through and fairly soft but firm, 30 to 35 minutes.

4. Serve the meatballs and sauce hot over the rice in a large serving bowl and garnish with the steamed peas.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg. Stir in the flour until just blended. Mix in the apricots and almonds.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a log, about 12-inches long and 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Wrap the dough in the plastic and freeze for 2 hours. At this point log may be kept in freezer for up to a month. .

Cut the dough log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2 inch-thick slices. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing evenly apart. Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

For the Icing:

Place the confectioners’ sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Gradually whisk in the almond flavored liqueur and extract, until the mixture is of drizzling consistency.

Place the wire rack over a baking sheet. Spoon icing into a zip top plastic bag and snip small piece off corner, drizzle icing over cookies, allowing any excess icing to drip onto the baking sheet. Allow the icing to set before serving.

Prepare fish: Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a shallow baking pan with foil.

Pat fillets dry, then arrange in baking pan. Sprinkle salt all over fillets. Stir together wasabi paste and mayonnaise in a bowl, then spread tops of fillets with half of mayonnaise and sprinkle with half of panko. Turn fillets over and spread with remaining mayonnaise, then sprinkle with remaining crumbs.

Bake until fish is just cooked through, 12 to 16 minutes, then broil 4 to 6 inches from heat until crumbs on top are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

Make slaw while fish bakes: Stir together vinegar, sugar, mustard, and salt in a bowl until sugar is dissolved. Halve cucumber lengthwise, then thinly slice. Add to dressing along with cabbage and stir to coat. Serve slaw alongside fish.

Try this delicious Pumpkin spelt bread when you are on the run on a cold winter’s day. Pumpkin is another member of the squash family and contains lots of fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, Carotenoids, and a host of other health benefits.

Thank you Paula Shoyer, author of the brand new bestselling cookbook The Kosher Baker!

In a large bowl, beat the oil, sugar and honey with a stand or hand-held electric mixer on medium-high speed until mixed. Add the pumpkin purée and beat again.

Use a silicone spatula to scrape down the bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well. Add the white, wheat and spelt flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Mix all the ingredients together. Use a silicone spatula to scoop the batter into the pan and then smooth the top.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a rack and let cool completely. Store covered in plastic at room temperature for up to five days or freeze wrapped in plastic for up to three months.

Paula Shoyer is a pastry chef who owns and operates Paula’s Parisian Pastries Cooking School in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She received her pastry diploma from the Ritz Escoffier Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise in Paris, France in 1996. Paula Shoyer is the author of The Kosher Baker: 160 dairy-free desserts from traditional to trendy (Brandeis University Press, August 2010). Paula Shoyer is the editor of two popular Kosher cookbooks: Kosher by Design Entertains and Kosher by Design Kids in the Kitchen.

Last Shabbat I made a crunchy, colorful chopped taco salad inspired by my favorite new gourmet kosher cookbook, Chef At Home published by the Magen David Yeshivah PTA. If you haven’t heard about this new 400 page kosher cookbook yet, than make sure you order a copy soon from Yvonne Franco . Once you have it in your kitchen, you wont be able to cook a meal without it!

Add this healthy new salad to your holiday lunch menu. Its a great change from the traditional boring salads that we’ve gotten used to.

For this healthy kosher recipe, I used healthy organic tacos from Omni Health located on avenue U in Brooklyn. I also added fresh chopped jicama which adds a delicious low calorie crunch to the mix.

Ingredients:

1 head romaine chopped

2 small ripe tmatoes

2 cucumbers

1 red onion chopped

1 can chickpeas

1 can red kidney beans

1 avocado cubed

2 corn on the cob, steamed and shucked

jicama cubed into small pieces

several tacos, toasted and broken into 1″ pieces

Dressing:

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 cup of olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar or Splenda

1-2 teaspoons of cumin

juice of one lemon

juice of one lime

1 teaspoon of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon light mayonnaise

salt and pepper

Directions for this Kosher Recipe

In a large serving bowl combine all ingredients except for taco chips.

On nights when some of the kids really want meat or barbeque, I like to make this salmon burger recipe when the rest of us want something light. Double the recipe to make about 12 burgers. Try making them mini and serve them with mini whole wheat challah rolls!

Kosher recipe ingredients:

1 pound salmon fillet, skin removed, cut into chunks

1/4 cup chopped shallots

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

2 egg whites

1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs (I use whole wheat Panko crumbs)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

dash of tabasco sauce- optional

2 teaspoon olive oil

Directions for this kosher recipe:

1. Cut the salmon into large chunks, and put about a quarter of it into the container of a food processor, along with the mustard. Turn the machine on, and let it run – stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary – until the mixture becomes pasty.

2. Add the shallots and the remaining salmon, and pulse the machine until the fish is chopped and combined with the puree. No piece should be larger than a quarter inch or so; be careful not make the mixture too fine.

3. Combine chopped salmon, egg whites, 1/4 cup shallots, breadcrumbs, remaining 1 tsp mustard, salt and pepper and optional tabasco sauce in another bowl; mix well; watch the video above to learn the perfect way to shape salmon burgers so that they don’t fall apart and so that you don’t have to touch the salmon with your bare hands.

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Meet my new friend Reyna Simnegar, author of the new bestselling cookbook Persian Food from the Non Persian Bride. Reyna’s amazing background is bone-chilling. Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, she was raised as a Catholic, and went to Catholic school. Being an inquisitive young girl, she was able to slowly pick up silent clues to her family’s past.

“Growing up in this bewildering environment made me question authority even more. Sometimes I would stare at the nuns at school and ask myself, Why are you dressed like this? What do you have that makes you spiritually closer to God than me? How do you know what God wants from you? What kind of mother would you have been? I needed answers to my questions. I needed to know there was a way to reach closeness to God without having to become like them. I needed freedom to talk to God directly. I needed truth.”

After meeting her future husband, a Persian Jew, they both continued on their quest to find their roots. Along the way, she picked up her husband’s family’s Persian cuisine, which lead her on a path to being a sensational cookbook author.

Read the details about Reyna’s amazing awakening to her Jewish roots HERE.

Yogurt with Spinach and Mint

Borani Esfanaaj by Reyna Simnegar

This is my favorite dairy Persian dish! It is just so easy to make for Shavuot and so delicious! I feel so healthy when I eat this dish. It is obviously a lot more convenient to make if you already have frozen spinach in the freezer! Spinach can be hard to clean and check for insect infestation, so make sure to get the kosher frozen kind, such as Bodek brand.

Kosher recipe ingredients:

2 cups onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced

3 tablespoons canola oil

¼ teaspoon turmeric

1 (16-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 cups low-fat plain yogurt

Directions for this kosher recipe:

1. In a small saucepan, fry onions, turmeric, and garlic in oil until slightly golden (about 10 minutes).